A Mexican Hacienda, Lake Cuitzeo
1885
Medium
Painting
Classification
Painting
Department
Smithsonian Collection
Museum
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Credit
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
Accession Number
1968.120.2
Tags
About this artwork
Thomas Moran traveled to Cuba and Mexico in 1883, making many sketches of the landscape. In this image, we gaze through an archway of dark trees to a sunny hacienda on the banks of Lake Cuitzeo. In the foreground a lone figure sits in deep shadows by a pool of water. This intimate scene, which emphasizes the beauty and quietness of nature on a small scale, is very different from the dramatic panoramas of mountains and canyons that were Moran’s trademark.
About the Artist
Thomas Moran · 1837–1926
Thomas Moran (1837–1926) was an American painter and printmaker of the Hudson River School whose dramatic paintings of the American West played a pivotal role in the creation of the national parks. Born in Bolton, Lancashire, England, he emigrated with his family to Philadelphia as a child. He was largely self-taught, though he apprenticed briefly with a wood engraver and studied the work of J.M.W...